In large scale computing systems, it is often necessary to provide an operator with detailed information regarding the presence and status of mass storage devices. In order to provide such functionality, many storage solutions utilize a backplane with an integrated enclosure management device, referred to herein as an “enclosure management backplane.” In addition to performing other functions, an enclosure management backplane provides facilities for generating visual indicators based upon enclosure management data received from a connected host bus adapter (“HBA”). For instance, in some solutions, individual light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) may be driven by an enclosure management backplane for displaying information regarding the activity, failure, rebuild status, and other information for each of the mass storage devices connected to the enclosure management backplane. In order to provide these indicators and other types of functionality, an enclosure management backplane typically provides connections for multiple mass storage devices, such as hard disk drives. The backplane also interfaces with an HBA and provides an interface through which the HBA may communicate with the mass storage devices. An enclosure management backplane also may receive and transmit enclosure management data to and from the HBA. Enclosure management data is any data relating to the provision of enclosure management services by a backplane.
Several different physical interfaces may be utilized to deliver enclosure management data between a HBA and an enclosure management backplane. For instance, some Serial Attached SCSI (“SAS”)-compatible HBAs are equipped with a serial general purpose input/output interface (“SGPIO”). Some Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (“SATA”)-compatible HBAs, on the other hand, utilize a control or management bus, such as the I2C bus from PHILIPS SEMICONDUCTORS, to exchange enclosure management data between the enclosure management backplane and the HBA. For various reasons, some vendors have decided on some HBA models, to implement an enclosure management protocol based on the I2C bus, even for SAS HBAs, which could be for backward compatibility reasons with SATA backplanes.
The particular protocol utilized to transfer enclosure management data between the enclosure management backplane and the HBA may also vary from solution to solution. For instance, the Small Computer Systems Interface (“SCSI”) Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosures Interface Specification (“SAF-TE”) is typically utilized with SATA HBAs utilizing the I2C management bus. Alternatively, the SGPIO protocol may be utilized with a SAS HBA utilizing an SGPIO interface to exchange enclosure management information between an HBA and an enclosure management backplane.
In addition to the standard protocols utilized for the transfer of enclosure management information, it is very common for HBA manufacturers to define their own proprietary protocols. In many cases, an HBA manufacturer will utilize a standard protocol, such as SGPIO or SAF-TE, as the foundation for its protocol but will modify the standard protocol to define its own proprietary protocol. For instance, an HBA manufacturer may change the order that data is presented or add particular proprietary data to the protocol.
In order to provide backplane solutions supporting the various physical interfaces for exchanging enclosure management data, the various standard protocols for exchanging enclosure management data, and the various manufacturer-specific protocols for exchanging enclosure management data, it has previously been necessary to provide backplanes configured for each particular combination of physical interface and protocol. However, providing a separate backplane for each combination of physical interface and protocol can be extremely cost-inefficient and time consuming.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.